Alan's Older Brothers
by Yarol
Summary: A short character piece on Alan thinking about his brothers after an announcement, and then the aftermath
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Notes:_

_I have definite ideas on age and birth order of the Tracy brothers, but given the kerfluffle the birth order of John and Virgil can cause, I'm leaving this wide open other than they were born close enough together that when they were young people mistook them for a twin birth._

_This was written pretty much before the revelations of "SOS" and "Signals"_

* * *

Alan doesn't really remember his mother. He know what she looks like, sounds like, from pictures and videos. But his only clear true memory of her is the lilac perfume she wore. Virgil told him once that scent is the strongest of all memories. Truth be told the whole concept of "Mom" is an abstract for Alan at best. The closest he could get was Grandma, and Alan had the feeling there was a distinct difference between the two.

He does remember his father, but... He remembers Jeff Tracy's presence. He remembers that he loved and was loved by his father. He remembers the big things. He remembers Dad first taking him up in the sky and letting him fly the plane. He remembers Dad stopping everything one day because he found out a Star Trek the Original Series marathon was on and he wanted to watch it with his boys even though they owned every Star Trek series to date and could play them at any time. But if you asked Alan about his Dad now. Well, the first thing that popped into his mind is an amalgam of his three oldest brothers, and then, of course, the image of Jeff Tracy.

Alan is almost but not quite exactly seventeen years younger than Scott, and every now again someone recounts the story of how Scott almost brought Alan along when he left for college; packing up a bag and other support material for little Alan to take somewhere was as natural to Scott as breathing. He knows that once a very crass tabloid reporter had alleged that Alan wasn't Jeff and Lucy Tracy's son, but their first grandchild because of an indiscretion of Scott's. Not true, of course, and Jeff raised hell and the reporter was hounded out of even the slimiest of media outlets from fear of what Jeff Tracy might bring down on them. Still, Alan's watched the recording of his first steps, and he knows his first stumbling steps had been towards Scott, whose face had lit up like a Christmas tree.

And the almost twins, Virgil and John. Virgil quiet and strong and understanding and kind. John was also quiet and strong and understanding and kind, but in a completely different ways. Virgil was the foundation that gave you a place to build on. John was the open sky showing you all the possibilities you could achieve if you worked hard. With both of them at your back nothing seemed impossible. Both of them stable and supporting in the way everyone wished a dad would be. And, really, they both gave the best hugs.

So really the only brother-_brother_ Alan has is Gordon, even though they have the largest age gap between any of the brothers; seven years between Gordon's birth and Alan's. Gordon's reaction to Alan being born had been to celebrate that he was no longer the baby of the family and now he could be a big brother. And that was good. Gordon let Alan know it was still all right _to be_ a kid, regardless of your age. Virgil might look the most like their Dad, but Alan had the sneaking suspicion Gordon was really the brother that was actually most like their Dad, and that somehow it had been good and it had been right that Gordon, the aquanaut, had been the one to pilot the TV-21 even as briefly as he had.

So Alan isn't sure what he feels when Colonel Casey announces that the GDF has found Jeff Tracy, and that he's alive.


	2. Chapter 2

Scott was dithering.

As a rule Scott never dithered.

But Scott was dithering and it was taking all of John and Virgil's collective calm to keep the eldest Tracy brother from taking Thunderbird One and following Kayo and Brains to the GDF base where their Father was.

Allegedly.

Alan wished Scott would stop dithering.

Colonel Casey had been adamant that it be Brain and Kayo; if it really was Jeff Tracy then a few more hours wouldn't hurt, if it wasn't, if it was a trick of the Hood's… well, Alan didn't know which of his brothers would be devastated and which would finally snap and decide to end the Hood once and for all. Most people would say Scott would be the one to snap, but Alan had the sneaking feeling that John, with all his surveillance equipment and EOS up on Thunderbird Five, would be the one. Alan thought people forgot how scary John could be. All they knew of him was the calm voice on the other end of the line.

Alan still didn't know how he felt.

Gordon was in the pool doing laps.

Grandma was just standing at the edge of room by the floor to ceiling windows and watching the sky.

Alan wished Scott would stop dithering.

It scared him. He knew he should be excited. Happy maybe. But right now all Alan knew was Scott just wouldn't stop moving. Wouldn't stop talking. All disjointed incomplete thoughts. Sitting down at Dad's desk. Getting up. His hands clenching and unclenching. Calling John for information. _Any_ information. Heading towards his lamps. Being intercepted by Virgil and gently bounced away from any attempt to get to Thunderbird One.

Scott shouldn't be like that.

"Scott…?"

Scott focused his attention on Alan.

Maybe he made a mistake.

But there was no helping it now. He had Scott's full attention.

"Uhm," Alan felt his hand automatically rise up behind his head as he weakly suggested, "maybe, heh, you should just sit down for a while?"

He still had Scott's full attention.

Scott was staring at him like he had never seen Alan before.

Then he was sitting beside Alan enfolding him in a hug that would have done an octopus proud. It reminded Alan of when he was little and usually complained about being 'squished.'

Alan didn't mind now, not really.

After all, Scott wasn't dithering any more.


	3. Chapter 3

In the end, of course, it was Alan who set the world right.

It wasn't that Jeff and Scott argued after Jeff was safely returned. But they had differing ideas on things. Important things. Things that impacted more than just the Tracy Family.

So while his other three Brothers tripped over themselves, tried to smooth things over, tried to find a happy medium, a middle path, Alan stood in the middle of the lounge and screamed.

That got everyone's attention and Alan knew he had to work fast before someone tried to call him on being childish. Because Alan realized he hadn't been a child in a long time.

"Stop it!" he ordered, "Just stop it."

Someone tried to interrupt. It might have Virgil. It might have been John. But Alan plowed onward.

"Dad, Dad, I know, I know International Rescue was your idea, your dream, but," Alan gave his Dad a small, sad smile, "but Scott's the one who kept it together when everyone thought it would fall apart without you. He's kept it and us alive."

"Scott's the one who make sure we can save the world. Not just the big whole world, but the small little worlds of the people who call on International Rescue for help. And he's always looked to your example for how to do it. But now you, you gotta look to him, because he's been running International Rescue longer than you did. And he," Alan stumbled over his words, "he's, you know, Scott's the heart. The heart of International Rescue. You have to trust him. He had the best example, the best father to learn from. But Dad, you gave Scottie his wings, you gotta let him fly now."

Jeff Tracy looked at Alan for a long time.

Alan looked small. He looked scared. But he stood his ground, because he knew he was right.

Jeff looked away from his youngest son and looked to the reason of his family, blood-related and not. He gave a quick huff of laughter, and opened his arms and all poured together into a massive group hug, Alan squished in the center.

"Besides, the first lesson about flight _you_ taught _me_," Alan managed with a hint of mischief in his voice, "nobody likes a backseat pilot."

* * *

_Author's Note: And of course Alan's going to be a smart-ass at the end, ALL the Tracys are smart-asses to one degree or another._


End file.
